About This Book

So what if it's Halloween? Third-grader Alex Parsells is not happy about the current state of his life. His mother forces him to eat healthful food like tofu, and his older brother, Pete, won't let him hang out with his gang of sixth-graders.

Alex needs a break — or maybe just a piece of bubblegum; bubblegum always makes him feel better. But instead of his usual brand, the vending machine gives Alex something called ZXO's Double Trouble Bubble Gum. This gum glows. This gum tastes unlike anything he has ever known. And this gum makes him invisible. It also has warning on its wrapper: "Use at your own risk."

Alex takes the risk, and for all the fun he has while being invisible, he finds he also has to become a world-class liar to cover up for the times when he doesn't seem to be around. On Halloween night, things really get out of hand when his brother's gang carries out a scheme to steal an old lady's teeth, and Alex tags along with them while invisible. Unfortunately, the gum's magic wears off just as the police arrive to investigate the crime, and Alex has to lie like he's never done before — to the police! And how can he tell them that his brother has also chewed a piece of the gum and is using his powers to cause as much Halloween mischief as he can?

Halloween night has never been more mischievous — and fun — than it is with Alex and Pete and the gum that makes them invisible. Mirko Gabler's cartoon illustrations ensures that the book is full of laughs, though not without an important lesson on the abuse of a power that might otherwise be a gift, and the consequences that follow the telling of one too many lies.